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How to Make the Case for Higher Pay

So you’ve been keeping your head down, working as hard as you can — glad, you tell yourself, that you even have a job.

But you’ve been doing that for several years now. And in that time, the cost of your health insurance has gone up, along with college tuition, gasoline and a host of other things. Your pay, meanwhile, has been stagnant.

Asking for a raise is hard enough in normal economic times. But now, you can’t help wondering: does the mere act of asking for more money come with its own risks?

“If you are a good-performing employee who is contributing, I think it poses zero danger,” said Mike Zwell, a consultant and author of “Six-Figure Salary Negotiation” (Adams Media, 2008). “The worst that will happen is that they will say no, and give you some reason for it.”

There have been some encouraging signs on pay lately. Only about 9 percent of companies have put pay freezes in place over the last 18 months, a rate more in line with historical levels. That’s down from the nearly two-thirds of companies that had pay freezes in place in January 2010, according to research conducted by Buck Consultants.

“The reality is that most companies have responded very quickly and effectively to the changing economic conditions,” Mr. Zwell said. “So the feelings of scarcity are much greater than the actual scarcity for those who are employed.”

Still, compensation budgets remain tight, and the employees who are getting raises tend to be their company’s top-performing stars with unique skills — in other words, the employees who stand the highest risk of being poached by competitors.

But even if you are one of the lucky ones and your request is granted, the rewards aren’t likely to be nearly as generous as you may have hoped. Most recently, the typical merit increase has been 1.9 to 2 percent on average, whereas the highest-performing employees are getting closer to 4 percent, according to Stephen Mork, principal of global compensation and benefits at Buck Consultants.

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Credit
Robert Neubecker

By contrast, in 2007, the average merit increase was about 3.8 percent for a midlevel manager, which was largely in line with raises across all employee levels. “Four percent was the good old days,” Mr. Mork said, noting that in 2006 and earlier, raises of 4 to 5 percent were not uncommon.

How can you set yourself apart? Much depends on how you are perceived and your overall approach when you pop the question. So before you walk into your boss’s office, several career gurus suggested considering the following:

ARE YOU DESERVING? Well before you ask about a raise, you need to get a sense of how you are perceived. Most workers have said their employers don’t provide enough feedback, according to Buck Consultants. And as much as that says about supervisors’ lack of communication, it also shows that employees aren’t doing enough either. “If you are not getting those measures, then you are not managing your career properly,” Mr. Mork said, “and that ties into your pay and asking for merit increases.”

So if your employer doesn’t have formal performance reviews in place, set up a time to ask your supervisor about how you’re doing.

THE PREPARATION Once you’ve decided that you are deserving, take the time to build your case. Ideally, your higher-ups already have an idea of how you’re doing, which means you’ll need to engage in a modest amount of self-promotion over the course of the year. “You need to have an internal and external P.R. strategy,” said Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford’s business school and author of “Power: Why Some People Have It — and Others Don’t” (HarperBusiness, 2010). “You need to build a reputation. You need to have people know who you are.”

You should also keep a file of the “attaboy and attagirl” letters from associates or clients, which will help justify your request. And keep track of any additional responsibilities you’ve taken on, perhaps because others were laid off or your role has simply evolved or expanded.

Meanwhile, try to frame your contributions in measurable ways, said Marty Martin, an associate professor of human resources at DePaul University and a financial psychologist at Aequus Wealth Management in Chicago. That is easier to do in some positions than others — like sales, for instance — so you may need to get creative.

Putting it all down on paper will help you organize your thoughts. On one side, make a column listing all of your responsibilities. In another column (which should be considerably longer), list what you’ve accomplished in order of importance, said Kate Wendleton, president of the Five O’Clock Club, a career coaching organization.

Going through this exercise will help you develop a strong case for your supervisors, many of whom don’t even control the company purse strings. So make their job easy. “To give you a raise, your boss must ask his or her superior, which is probably just as nerve-racking for your boss as it was for you,” Ms. Wendleton said.

THE NUMBERS Also try to assess how fairly you’re being paid. The most effective way may be through networking or internal sources, whether it’s human resources or other employees you can trust, Mr. Zwell said. Does your company have pay grades with minimum and maximum levels? Where do you fall? Is your request realistic? “You should be finding this out before you ask for a raise,” he added.

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Jane T. Schroeder, a career counselor in Milwaukee, says employees looking for a pay increase need to express understanding of the economic situation.Credit
Darren Hauck for The New York Times

You can also consult the many Web sites that collect salary information, though several experts were reluctant to endorse any of them because the numbers can vary widely based on geography, individual companies or other factors. But they aren’t a bad place to start. I quickly perused the Web site Glassdoor.com, which receives salary information anonymously from employees, and their figures seemed realistic (at least for my profession in New York).

PRACTICE Before you approach your boss, summarize the main points you’d like to make, practice your delivery with a partner and envision what sort of response you might get. The more you prepare, experts said, the less anxious you are likely to be.

And if you happen to be the nervous type, consider taking some cues from the school of Method acting, where you draw upon emotions you’ve felt in the past. “You need to take a time where you felt confident and entitled and bring that into the present moment,” said Professor Pfeffer, who teaches the approach in his “Paths to Power” class. “If you believe you don’t deserve a raise, then the odds that anyone else believes you is about zero.”

HOW YOU ASK Threats and ultimatums should be avoided, a point made by most of the gurus I spoke with. Your boss is more likely to try to find the money if you make clear that you are happy to be part of the company. “It is also important that they express a clear understanding of the realities of the economic situation and how it is impacting the organization as a whole,” said Jane T. Schroeder, a career counselor in Milwaukee, who suggested presenting yourself as a solution to some of these concerns. “It should be a win-win conversation.”

And women need to be especially careful with their approach. Research has shown that women who ask for more money are perceived as less attractive than their male counterparts. So it’s especially important for women to frame their requests in the context of the greater good for the organization. “It is also true that stress and scarcity will lead people to rely more on rules of thumb and stereotypes,” said Iris Bohnet, director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

PREPARE FOR REJECTION You should have a back-up plan in case your request is rebuffed. “You also want to anticipate some of the obstacles that the boss will throw back at you and develop some answers to those prior to the conversation,” said Ms. Schroeder.

So if your employer can’t, or won’t, provide a raise right now, ask yourself what else might help improve your job satisfaction. More vacation time? Other intangibles? Or, steer the conversation so that it’s “about how we can enhance the role to warrant a higher range,” Ms. Schroeder said.

Even a disappointing result could have a positive outcome over the long run, because you’ve opened the lines of communication, which can help build your relationship with your boss.

It’s also important to try to maintain some perspective, since these situations have the potential to poke some holes in your self-esteem. “We take it personally,” Mr. Zwell said, “when a whole lot of the time it is not personal.”

A version of this article appears in print on November 26, 2011, on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: How to Make the Case For Higher Pay. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe